COMMENTING ON THE IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDINGS last Friday, President Clinton invoked
the words of the Persian poet Omar Khayyam. In his classic poem, The Rubaiyat,
composed more than 800 years ago, Khayyam wrote: "The moving finger writes; and
having writ moves on. Nor all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
nor all your tears wash out a word of it.''

The president said he took that to mean that neither piety, nor tears, nor wit (''nor
torment,'' he added), "can alter what I have done. I must make my peace with that.''

To what was Omar Khayyam referring? What was this "moving finger'' and whose
finger was it?

The "moving finger'' to which Omar Khayyam referred is found in the Book of Daniel,
Chapter Five. The King of Babylon, Belshazzar, hosted a great banquet for a thousand
people. In the midst of wine drinking and merriment, King Belshazzar called for the
gold and silver goblets his father, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the temple in
Jerusalem. His friends, their wives and concubines drank from them. These were
objects sacred to the Jews. As they drank, they praised the gods of gold, silver,
bronze, iron, wood and stone.

Beginning in verse five, the record says: "Suddenly the fingers of a human hand
appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall .... The king watched the hand as it
wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his knees knocked together
and his legs gave way.''

Unable to learn the meaning of the message from his enchanters, astrologers and
diviners, the king summoned Daniel. He knew that Daniel once interpreted a
mysterious dream for the king's father. Belshazzar offered Daniel riches, but he refused
and then translated the inscription: "God has numbered the days of your reign and
brought it to an end. You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Your
kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.'' Belshazzar's reign ended
that very night, Persia conquered Babylon, and another king took his place.

Belshazzar and his father, Nebuchadnezzar (Saddam Hussein's hero), were both
ruthless and proud men. The difference between them was that Nebuchadnezzar
humbled himself before God and was spared. His kingdom was even restored. But
Belshazzar refused to humble himself and perished, along with his kingdom.

The poem cited by President Clinton as worthy of his and our consideration contains a
deeper and far more important message for him. He also has demonstrated arrogance
and pride. He has flouted the law and behaved as if the presidency were his by right.
Offered ample opportunities to humble himself, Clinton used his "contrition'' as just
one of several strategies to preserve himself in office and avoid accountability later.

Given such history and evidence of the president's disrespect for the law, the House is
right to move forward with articles of impeachment. The Senate, if it is principled,
should vote to convict and remove him from office. Such acts will not tie up the
country. They will serve as a purgative. They will affirm that no one is above the law,
nor should anyone, including the president, be able to hide behind opinion polls or
clever statements to avoid being held accountable to the law.

This president, like the ancient and proud King Belshazzar, is being weighed on the
scales and found wanting. The Founders established the process of impeachment
because the people are not always right. They often vote their feelings, but the law
stands above emotion and holds us all accountable for our mutual benefit. It's time for
him to go.

As Omar Khayyam put it in what could be another strong message for the president
should he wish to read further:

"Indeed the Idols I have loved so long
"Have done my credit in this World much wrong;
"Have drowned my Glory in a shallow Cup,
"And sold my Reputation for a
Song.''

12/11/98: This sorry president 12/09/98: The eclipse of principle 12/03/98: Destroying Jewry on the installment plan 12/07/98: Before the Age of Clinton12/01/98: Apathy and ignorance 11/19/98: Ken Starr's moment of truth 11/19/98: The fall of journalism's empire 11/17/98: Republicans drift while conservatives float11/13/98: Supreme Courtupholds freedom of school-choice 11/10/98: The revolting Republican 'revolution' 11/06/98: Hulk Hogan for president? 11/03/98: Clinton's greatest peril isn't Monica10/30/98: Mother Teresa was right about killing
10/27/98: Clinton to Netanyahu: 'You're despicable' 10/21/98: A 'peace' agreement: Wye not? 10/19/98: Vanity Fair snubs some of the greatest women 'leaders' 10/14/98:The mean machine 10/09/98: Impeachment: an outside perspective 10/07/98: The corruption of the Secret Service10/02/98: Land erosion in Israel10/01/98: The race panel: lies in black and white 9/18/98: The Clinton strategy and the Clinton legacy 9/18/98: Stopping him before he sins again9/15/98: Repenting when the end is near 9/11/98: Faithfully executing: Congress vs. the President 9/10/98: The degrees of separation between Dan Burton and Bill Clinton 9/08/98: Joe Lieberman and the Democrats' conscience 9/04/98: Clinton vs. Reagan and the struggle for power 9/02/98: If only Bubba had been a Boy Scout 8/31/98: Liberal clergy and the Lewinsky affair
8/27/98: Combating the terrorists among us 8/25/98: The president as 'Chicken Little'8/20/98: That was no apology 8/18/98: Big government's crab grab 8/14/98:Untruths, half-truths and anything but the
truth8/12/98: Lying under oath: past and present impeachable offenses 8/10/98: Endangered species 8/04/98: In search of an unstained president
7/31/98: The UK is ahead of US in one area... 7/28/98: Murder near and far7/21/98: Telling the truth abouthomosexual behavior 7/17/98: One Nation? Indivisible? 7/14/98: Who cares about killing when the 'good times' are rolling? 7/10/98: George W. Bush: a different 'boomer' 7/08/98: My lunch with Roy Rogers7/06/98: News unfit to print (or broadcast) 6/30/98: Smoke gets in their eyes6/25/98: Sugar and Spice Girls
6/19/98: William Perry opposed technology transfers to China 6/19/98: The Clinton hare vs.the Starr tortoise6/17/98: The President's rocky road to China
6/15/98: Let the children go 6/9/98: Oregon: the new killing fields 6/5/98: Speaking plainly: the cover-up continues
6/2/98: Barry Goldwater: in our hearts 5/28/98:The Speaker's insightful remarks 5/26/98: As bad as it gets
5/25/98:Union dues and don'ts5/21/98:
Connecting those Chinese campaign
contribution dots
5/19/98: Clinton on the couch
5/13/98:
John Ashcroft: another
Jimmy Carter? 5/8/98: Terms of dismemberment 5/5/98: Clinton's tangled Webb
4/30/98: Return of the Jedi 4/28/98: Desparately seeking Susan4/23/98: RICO's threat to free-speech and expression4/21/98: Educating children v. preserving an institution 4/19/98: Analyzing the birth of a possible new nation 4/14/98: What's fair about our tax system?4/10/98: CBS: 'Touched by a perv' 4/8/98: Judge Wright's wrong reasoning on sexual harassment 4/2/98: How about helping American cities before African? 3/31/98:Revenge of the children 3/29/98: The Clinton strategy: delay, deceive, deny, and destroy3/26/98: Moralist Gary Hart3/23/98: CNN's century of (liberal) women3/17/98: Dandy Dan3/15/98: An imposed 'settlement' settles nothing3/13/98: David Brock's Turnabout